Ultimate Sacrifice 3: Eternal Guardians
by D3Fan
Summary: They say friendship is strong, but exactly how strong? Rika and Renamon both discover that even though they were cold to them, Takato and Guilmon prove thier friendship...even after thier dead.


Disclaimer: Hello everyone, and welcome to the grand finale of my Ultimate Sacrifice series!  
  
Rika: That's good and all, but what about TBC huh? Why are you not getting around to updating that one?  
  
* I sigh* Look, I'll be honest with you Rika, I am really having a hard time with that story because it's my first with writing in other peoples characters, and you can't begin to imagine how hard it is to get their personalities right. That and the fact that both my time and access to the family comp have been limited to a mere two hours per day.  
  
Rika: Ouch...  
  
Very big ouch...anyways enough with the sad stuff, on to the fic!  
  
Ultimate Sacrifice 3: Eternal Guardian  
  
"For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity." William Penn.  
  
She ran...she couldn't take it anymore, the angry shouts, the venom in their voices...she had to escape! But it seemed as if they were right there with her, following her as she fled. She could hear them even stronger now, their anger and pain emanating from their harsh words.  
  
"You did this to us!" one screamed at her from the side, "we should have let you die instead!"  
  
"Why we chose to do that for you and the others is beyond my comprehension," the second said from behind her, "all of you killed us!"  
  
She almost stopped at that accusation, the words biting deep into her heart. However the fear once again took over and she continued to run, the bodiless voices following. It seemed the faster she ran, the faster the voices kept up with her...at first. Slowly but surly though, she could hear them falling behind, and when the final one faded off behind her she let out a sigh or relief. Before she could even have a chance to stop running, the unexpected happened. She hit something...what it was she didn't know, but nonetheless it made her stumble and fall. With a shriek, she hit the ground hard, coming to complete stop on her side. And that's when she heard it, a deep almost psychotic laugh.  
  
"So...you have stopped, it's about time," the voice rasped from the shadows, sending shivers down her back.  
  
"Leave me alone," she said quietly, getting yet another deep laugh.  
  
"Leave you alone, leave you alone?" the voice said amused, before raising higher in volume, "that's all you ever said to us! You and the others!"  
  
There were tears in her eyes, and yet she knew that the statement was true. Her tormenter started to laugh again.  
  
"Maybe now...now is the time to extract our revenge," the words that came out were low and hushed, but full of malevolence.  
  
A bright flash to her right caused her to turn, and what she saw made her eyes widen.  
  
"No, your dead!" she cried out in shock, watching the figure smirk. "We all saw you die!"  
  
"Yes, we died," the figure, said, stepping closer and closer to her, "we died protecting the lives of people that never appreciated us!"  
  
She watched in fear as a long, sharp spear materialized in the figures hand, the grin getting bigger and bigger as he drew near. She wanted to run...but her legs felt like they were made of metal, and so she sat there, watching him draw closer and closer.  
  
"Please, don't do this!" she said in desperation, the figure bringing his weapon up preparing to strike her with it. And all she got in reply was an evil grin.  
  
"Vengence...is ours!" Gallantmon screamed, slashing his lance down.  
  
And as the blade drew nearer and nearer, she couldn't help but say two words over and over again.  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"  
  
******  
  
"I'm sorry!" Rika yelled, sitting upright and tossing the blankets right off of her.  
  
Her breath came out deep and heavy, her hands immediately patting herself checking for the wound. And that's when it finally dawned on her; she was in her room, on her bed. A small sigh of relief came out of her mouth before she wrapped herself with her arms.  
  
* A dream, * she thought to herself, * it was another dream. *  
  
Before she could recall the horrible nightmare she just had, Rika felt another presence in the room. It was a familiar one, and knowing that it was her digimon partner comforted her. Looking to her left, Rika could just barely make out Renamon's figure in the dark, but the vulpine digimon was there all right, with a look of concern showing on her face.  
  
"Rika, are you ok?" she asked, stepping closer to the bed, "I heard you screaming."  
  
"I'm fine Renamon, I was just..." Rika stopped in mid-sentence and sighed deeply. Renamon immediately knew what was wrong.  
  
"Another dream about them?" she asked, getting a small nod from Rika.  
  
"I still feel guilty you know?" Rika said, staring up at her ceiling now, "and lately I've felt like it should have been me to take the hit, not them."  
  
Renamon stood there in silence, not saying anything to her tamer. Secretly, she felt the same as her, angered at the fact that two innocent beings had given their lives to save hers. She wasn't worth saving then, not after the way she treated those two along with the others. Unknown to her, a tear began to form in her eye. Renamon also didn't notice the fact that Rika was looking at her, a bit of shock present in her face.  
  
"Renamon," Rika said softly, making the vulpine turn towards her.  
  
"Yes Rika?"  
  
"Your...crying."  
  
******  
  
A digital field, it had to be. Renamon stopped and looked around, trying to get her bearings straight. It was the morning after her little incident, the only time she ever felt herself truly cry. When Rika had first pointed it out to her, Renamon hadn't believed her, but a quick check with her paw proved it. She had been crying, saddened by the great loss. But right now, she had more important things to do than worry about her image, she had felt a digital field, she was sure of it.  
  
"Now if only I could find it," she mused to herself, jumping along the trees.  
  
Currently she was in the park, having felt the bio-emergence from her perch outside Rika's school. That was one thing also on her mind at the moment; Rika was not here. If it truly were a digimon, and a powerful one at that, she would be helpless to stop it.  
  
* I wonder if Terriermon felt it to? * She thought to herself, before shaking her head. He probably had felt it, however he wouldn't show up. Today Henry's sister Suzie had the day off, and that meant Terriermon had the whole day with her, and her dresses.  
  
Fighting the urge to laugh at the mental image of Terriermon in a dress, Renamon finally slowed down and got a look at her current surroundings. This is where she had felt the emergence, now if only she could...her concentration was broken however, when he eyes fell upon a familiar site. Guilmon's stone house.  
  
* What!? * she thought in both surprise and awe, * the bio-emergence was here!?*  
  
Shaking her head, the vulpine digimon took off again, trying to locate the wild one. But after a few minutes of searching, and coming up with nothing, Renamon sighed and started to leave the park. Rika was going to want to know about this. And as she jumped away through the trees, only one thought crossed her mind.  
  
* Where did the wild one go? *  
  
And while she went on her way, she didn't notice the pair of golden eyes watching her from the darkness of Guilmon's hut.  
  
******  
  
How long had it been now? Three weeks ago, right? Rika sighed deeply to herself as she continued her trek through the park. Ahead of her, Renamon was still searching for the digimon that had supposedly appeared here earlier in the day. And the place she had sensed it, Rika shuddered. What were the odds of it appearing right where Guilmon's house was? That had to be some sort of a bad omen, or something like that anyways. And this was the second time she felt like this, scared, anxious, confused.  
  
* The only other time was when Henry told me about the carving of Gallantmon we made, * she thought, and then shuddered. That had been last week, and still they had no idea what happened to it. It had disappeared, almost as if it never existed. The writing was still there when Renamon and herself had checked, but the carving was indeed gone. At first they thought one of the construction workers repairing the place after the SkullMammothmon attack had filled it in. When they asked around however, all of them said the same thing; that no one went near the memorial the whole time.  
  
"Rika...do you see what I see?" her partners voice cutting her from her thoughts. Ahead of them, appearing out of nowhere was a thick blanket of fog. Rika smiled.  
  
* A digital field, at least this will take my mind off things, * she thought while pulling on her shades.  
  
"Renamon," she said glancing over at her partner, "let's go."  
  
And without another word, the two ran into the fog.  
  
******  
  
Sakuyamon growled as she dodged yet another attack being thrown at her. This fight was beginning to become tiresome to the shaman digimon, and her patience was wearing thin. Her opponent was a Piedmon, and what a strong opponent he was. Rika growled to herself in her sphere as she blocked another attack with her staff. Sakuyamon had the type advantage over this jerk; the fight should have been over long ago. Yet there was something about this digimon, something that made him stand out above the others of his kind. Pushing him away, Sakuyamon tried to attack again.  
  
"Spirit Strike!"  
  
As usual the three colored fox spirits flew off the staff, streaking towards their target. The Piedmon saw them coming however, and jumped just as they came near, making Sakuyamon's attack strike the ground instead. While in the air, Piedmon drew his sword, and dove at her; the two megas locked weapons with each other and began to struggle, trying to push each other back. It was during this event that Piedmon started to grin before opening his mouth to speak.  
  
"You are as strong as they say you are," his voice came out cold and hollow like, "such a pity though that your potential is wasted on that fox."  
  
Inside her sphere Renamon growled, while Rika narrowed her eyes.  
  
"I'll show you how wasted it is when I whip your butt," Sakuyamon's dual voice exclaimed.  
  
Pushing the digimon's sword away from her, Sakuyamon lashed out with her staff, slamming it against Piedmon's face. Piedmon, startled by this sudden act, took the blow and went crashing to the ground, a gout of smoke rising in the air on impact. Sakuyamon took the small break in fighting to retreat to a safer distance, her eyes still locked on her opponent as he slowly got to his feet. Piedmon looked towards the shaman mega and scowled at her in anger.  
  
"A lucky shot," he hissed, raising to his feet, "but next time you will not be so lucky."  
  
Without another word he charged her head on, swinging his own blade towards her oncoming staff.  
  
"Trump Swords!" he screamed, his attack now clashing with that of Sakuyamon's.  
  
Sakuyamon let out a small grunt as she fought to hold back his strike. This wasn't possible; somehow Piedmon was only growing stronger and stronger after every blow they exchanged. Renamon was already breathing hard from her sphere, a sign that she was using everything they had to keep him at bay.  
  
"Rika," Renamon said from her side, "unless we can end this battle here and now, I will run out of the strength required to keep this form."  
  
Rika nodded inside her sphere, and quickly focused her attention back on the fight. The Piedmon was still pushing against Sakuyamon's staff with his sword, a sinister grin on his face. Before she could react though, the Piedmon jumped back and then into the air, laughter now emerging from his mouth.  
  
"Try this!" he called down to Sakuyamon, before throwing his hands into the air above him, "Clown Trick!"  
  
Sakuyamon braced herself for the oncoming attack, but then let her defense down as she gaped in awe. The Piedmon was multiplying!  
  
* What the heck is going on? * Rika thought inside her sphere, as Piedmon continued to split into more copies of himself.  
  
"Surprised?" the viral mega asked, or rather one of his copies.  
  
"Unlike other Piedmon, my Clown Trick is far more different than theirs," stated another.  
  
"Gee I hadn't really noticed," Sakuyamon stated in annoyance. The Piedmons grinned.  
  
"And now my dear," yet another one stated, "it is time we finished you off, Trump Sword!"  
  
With that said, every single one charged her, the blades of their swords bearing down on her. With a grunt, Sakuyamon blocked the closest attacker and jumped into the air.  
  
"Spirit Strike!" she yelled, sending the multi-colored fox spirits streaking towards their targets. Each attack hit, but to Sakuyamon's great dismay for every copy she destroyed two more took it's place.  
  
"Rika, concentrate hard," Renamon said from her side, "these are but mere illusions, if we find the correct one, we can stop them."  
  
Trusting her partner, Rika/Sakuyamon closed her eyes and listened as her foe's surrounded her. They were laughing, but only one was real. Using every ounce of patience she had left, Sakuyamon tried to pin point the exact location of her real enemy. And when she found it, a small smirk crept up face. Not a moment later she spun around quickly and attacked at the same time as her opponent.  
  
"Trump Swords!"  
  
"Spirit Strike!"  
  
Piedmon was caught off guard once again and let out a scream as Sakuyamon's engulfed his attack. Not stopping there, Sakuyamon sent out one more spirit strike, this time hitting Piedmon dead center and creating a small explosion. Fatigued, Sakuyamon stepped back a bit and scanned the cloud of dust where Piedmon once stood. She let out a soft sigh when the smoke cleared away, showing nothing in sight.  
  
"Looks like we got him," she said in Rika's voice.  
  
Turning away from the battle site, she was just about to split apart when it happened. It was a faint sound that she heard, but even so she knew what it was. A sword slicing through the air was making the sound. Before she could react however, the blow slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. A soft dull glow surrounded her, and Sakuyamon split apart. Groaning in pain, Rika sat up and looked to her right gasping as she saw her partner lying on her side, no movement coming from her.  
  
"Renamon!" she yelled in fear, struggling to stand up and make it to her partner.  
  
However, fatigue once again reared its ugly head as she stumbled and fell to the ground after taking only three steps. Trying to catch her breath, Rika turned at the sudden sound of laughter, her eyes widening in fear as she saw the source.  
  
"No," she whispered, "your still alive!"  
  
Piedmon laughed even harder at her words, stopping in order to narrow his eyes at her.  
  
"A pity really, I was hoping for a good fight," he said mockingly, approaching the fallen tamer and her partner.  
  
"Stay away from me!" Rika yelled, backing away from the advancing digimon, her eyes turning back to her partner, "Renamon get up, please get up!"  
  
Piedmon chuckled darkly at this, one of his hands reaching out to grab Rika around the throat. Ignoring her attempts to break free, Piedmon lifted her into the air, leveling her eyes with his.  
  
"Once I have dealt with you, human," he spit out the word human as if it were poisoned, "I will take your partners data for my own!"  
  
Rika's struggle became harder as she felt Piedmon reach for his sword. A wave of fear and apprehension came over the girls face as she looked back to her unmoving partner. So this was how she was going to die? By some crazed digimon out for data? Hope seemed to be rapidly draining from her as Rika slumped in the Piedmon's grip. A grin of victory spread over his face when he felt her give up.  
  
"And now," he said pausing a bit as he raised his sword, "you meet your end!"  
  
With a yell, Piedmon swung his blade down towards the girl in his grip. Rika saw the advancing blade, as time seemed to stand still for a split second. She bowed her head, a single tear escaping from her eyes as she awaited her end. Closer and closer it drew, this was it, any second now it was going to hit h...  
  
"Lightning Joust!"  
  
The voice came out of nowhere, startling both her and Piedmon at the same time. To further add to her surprise, Rika watched as the Piedmon was suddenly ripped away from her by a blast of some kind. She fell to the ground, gasping for air as she watched the Piedmon slam hard against the nearby trees. However, she didn't fully realize how tired she was up until this moment, being in Piedmon's strong grip had added to the already existing tiredness. Her eyes began to droop, and Rika could feel herself slipping away. However she forced herself to turn towards the direction the attack came, focusing what little strength she had left on the figure standing there. A lance, shield and cape were the only things she could make out, and that's when it hit her. Her eye's widened in recognition as the figures name rolled off her lips automatically.  
  
"Gallantmon."  
  
And with that said, Rika let out one last breath of amazement and slipped unconscious, the sounds of battle being lost on deaf ears.  
  
******  
  
Chirping...she could her birds chirping. Her mind began to turn itself back on, her consciousness returning. With a quiet groan, Rika Nonaka sat up and opened her eyes.  
  
"Where am I?" she said to no one in particular.  
  
"Rika, you have awoke, that is good," said an all to familiar voice to her right.  
  
Turning, Rika let out a gasp of relief as she saw her partner Renamon standing there in all her glory.  
  
"Renamon!" she exclaimed, hugging her closely, "your alive, I thought Piedmon had killed you!"  
  
Rika suddenly pulled back when she mentioned his name, turning away from Renamon quickly and looking down at her D-ark.  
  
"The Piedmon! I can't believe we forgot about him, come on Renamon we got to find him!"  
  
She was about to run off when Renamon put her paw on her shoulder and held her back.  
  
"Rika...the Piedmon is no more, he has been taken care of."  
  
Rika stopped and turned to look at Renamon, surprise all over her face.  
  
"You meen we stopped him?" she asked.  
  
Renamon shook her head, confusing her even more.  
  
"You don't remember what happened? Think back Rika what is the last thing you remember?"  
  
Rika sighed, and turned away from her, closing her eyes in concentration. Scenes began to flash before her, showing the battle with Piedmon. Finally she reached one in particular, the one where Piedmon was holding her by the throat and preparing to end her life. And then she saw it again, the surprise attack knocking Piedmon away from her causing him to lose his grip on her. She watched again and saw herself turning towards the attacks direction, saw the shock fill her eyes. And then she saw it, the figure that had saved her, the one figure she hadn't expected to see ever again. Gallantmon.  
  
"Gallantmon," she whispered to herself, not noticing her partners ears perk up at the mention of his name, "Renamon it was...Gallantmon that saved me, saved us."  
  
Renamon nodded her head in understanding, a thoughtful look on her face.  
  
"Rika," she began, snapping her out of her trance and making her turn towards her, "I...I saw him as well."  
  
"What?!"  
  
Renamon nodded her head and turned away, showing her back to Rika.  
  
"It was after the battle, when I first came to..." she began.  
  
****** ( flashback)  
  
Renamon groaned in pain as she came to, her muscles screaming at her to stay on the ground. But she wouldn't do that, she had to protect Rika.  
  
* There is no time to rest,* she thought to herself, * not as long as Rika is in danger!*  
  
Very carefully she picked herself up off the ground, and turned around, her eyes scanning the battlefield for both Rika and Piedmon. It took her no less then a minute to focus in on Rika, who was no more than a foot away and unconscious on the ground. Walking towards her partner, she kept alert, expecting an attack from Piedmon any second now. But surprisingly none came, and to make it even weirder, she couldn't smell him at all. However, there was on thing she did pick up, a scent she was all too familiar with and wished would never show up again.  
  
"Guilmon's scent," she said to herself, shaking her head, "This is not the time nor place to grieve again, why is my conscious picking now to play tricks on me!"  
  
So lost in her thoughts she did not pick up the sounds of footsteps until they were right on top of her. Cursing herself at being so careless, Renamon quickly spun around, sending out her attack.  
  
"Diamond Storm!"  
  
However, much to her dismay, her target simply smacked them aside, sending them off on stray paths. In desperation to protect her still unconscious tamer, Renamon prepared to attack once more when a familiar voice spoke out to her.  
  
"You know Renamon, that attack never hurt me at rookie stage, so it won't work against me now," it said.  
  
Renamon froze in mid attack, her eyes widening in both shock and amazement.  
  
"Guilmon!?" she said in surprise, earning a low chuckle in response.  
  
"You could say that," he replied in a jokingly manner.  
  
Renamon now watched as the figure she just attacked stepped out into her sight, his armor glinting in the sunlight. In one hand he held his lance as he always did, while in his other he held his shield the Aegis. Behind him his cape flew proudly in the gentle breeze that was blowing. He spoke again, but this time, using another voice.  
  
"Hello Renamon, good to see you again," said Gallantmon in Takato's voice.  
  
******  
  
Rika stared at her partner in shock as she finished telling her tale. So Gallantmon was back, and that meant that both Takato and Guilmon were alive! But wait...her eyes roamed over the room she was in, where were they?  
  
"Renamon, where is goggle head and dino boy? Did they leave already?" she asked.  
  
Renamon sighed heavily at that, earning a curious glance from her tamer.  
  
"Rika...they were never gone," Renamon stated quietly, still confusing the female tamer.  
  
"What do you meen they were never gone? Renamon what the heck are you talking about?"  
  
Renamon turned towards her, a look of sadness in her eyes.  
  
"I thought the same thing you just thought when I saw them, that they were alive and well," she said, "But when I questioned them of this they told me that they were in fact dead."  
  
This statement got both a "huh?" and blank stare from Rika. Renamon sighed inwardly, trying to find the right way to tell her everything Gallantmon has said to her.  
  
"I didn't believe them at first," she started up again, "but then they showed me proof that they were in fact deceased still."  
  
"And what proof was that?" Rika asked, a bit of curiosity in her voice.  
  
"Gallantmon became transparent," Renamon said, causing Rika to gasp, "I could see right through him Rika, and on top of that small pieces of data were flying about him."  
  
Rika blinked in surprise, she couldn't believe this, no way it had to be some kind of trick! But then again...gogglehead never had the smarts to pull something like this. She didn't know whether to shake in fear or tremble with awe. Renamon quickly broke her thoughts when she spoke once more.  
  
"There was one last thing they told me, one which I had hopped they would," she turned to Rika a small smile on her face, "They forgives us Rika, all of us."  
  
Rika blinked in surprise, they had forgiven them? That quickly?  
  
"You meen, they aren't angry at us? Not even a bit?" Rika said quietly.  
  
Renamon shook her head, the smile never leaving her face. Rika, soon copied her with her own small smile. Inside her, Rika felt herself grow warm, as if a painful burden had been lifted from her shoulders. Turning towards Renamon, Rika gave her partner a full grin.  
  
"Renamon, let's get going, mom and grandma must be worried by now."  
  
Renamon nodded to her tamer, disappearing in her usual style. Rika began to follow, walking out of what she now figured out was Guilmon's home. She paused at the bottom of the steps, looking back up she watched as the sun began to sink low in the sky, turning it a reddish-orange color. Another smile crept over her lips as her eyes then focused on Guilmon's hut.  
  
"Thanks Guilmon, and you too gog...Takato."  
  
With that said, Rika ran off towards home. If she had looked back however, she would have seen the forms of two beings walk out of Guilmon's stone home. The two figures watched the rapidly shrinking form of Rika as she ran further and further away. One of the figures smiled to himself.  
  
* We'll always be watching over you guys, because like Guilmon said, friends protect friends, even if we are gone already.*  
  
Turning away from the view, Takato looked over at Guilmon, a smile on his face.  
  
"C'mon boy, let's go get some rest," he said, getting a nod from him.  
  
A small white light descended on the deceased tamer and partner, circling them rapidly. The light continued to glow and before long both Takato and Guilmon could no longer bee seen. Then, with a quick flash, the light vanished, the tamer and digimon no longer there. And on the top of Guilmon's hut, there carved into the stone, was the image of Gallantmon.  
  
The End  
  
Well, there you have it everyone, the final story in this trilogy!  
  
Rika: * crying* It was beautiful!  
  
Really? I thought you were going to kill me for leaving them dead?  
  
Rika: * blowing her nose* Oh I'm going to, just as soon as I stop crying!  
  
* I sigh* Oh joy...  
  
P.S. Ok people here's some stuff I'm going to put in, some important some not!  
  
#1. In two parts of my story I have borrowed some idea's from two different sources in order to make my story work. Here's the fun part! Let's see if you, the dear reader, can find the exact places I use those ideas! Along with that, try to guess where I borrowed them from, here's a small hint to help, one idea is from another anime that is very popular with many people while the other is from a very successful video game title. Happy hunting you guys and gals! ( They are a bit tricky, so here's one more clue, one takes place during the Piedmon fight, another after it, got it? Good, on to number 2!  
  
#2. Ok here's where I get serious. As you have all guessed I am very slow with updates and/or new stories. I want to take the time right now to apologize for this and explain why. As I have stated in the first paragraph, access to the computer for both me and the other siblings in my family have been cut down to 2 per day. So basically I have two hours online and then that's it...no more till the next day. Typing takes me a while because I like to make my stuff up as I go along, that's how I write so well. So I usually get very little typed up at a time, this story for example, I started it right after I finished the second one and just now have finished it. Also one more thing before I go, I leave you people with an itinerary of my upcoming new works and/or chapter updates.  
  
To do list:  
  
1: Finish the next chapter for Quest of the Spirit, my Super Smash Bros. fic. ( won't take long, almost done with it)  
  
2: Start chapter three of The Baby Chronicles ~~ ( finally, I got a lot of people, Rika and Takato included, breathing down my neck about this one)  
  
3: Uh...nothing planned as of yet...possible Rika/Renamon friendship song- fic, don't know for certain yet.  
  
Well that's it! If you managed to read this far I salute you, you must have some great patience!  
  
Rika: Well I'm done crying now, time to lay down some hurt! * she cracks her knuckles*  
  
* I gulp* Uh...oh  
  
{ Ok that's all people see you another time, bye!} 


End file.
